I have always dreamed of coming to India! And after only a few days here I really feel at home. Growing up, whenever we had the option to eat out do a fancy take out meal, India House was always my top choice. Then with the release of Slumdog Millionaire when I was in high school, I remember being so intrigued by the rich culture and the beauty of the people in such a large, foreign country in the middle of Asia. Although I had experienced a taste for the food and a glimpse into the culture from the movie, it only made me want to fully dive in to be immersed in the countries richness. India being on this route was one of the primary reasons I chose this World Race over another route that also offered 11 new countries for me. And I am really glad to finally be here!
We are stationed in Bangalore, India, which is located in the middle, southern part of the country. If any of you have ever called a Technical support line for any major business, chances are you spoke to one of my new neighbors. Many companies outsource their IT to Bangalore because of its cheap labor yet very intelligent population. Therefore, English is very prevalent here which makes direct communication and relationship building very easy and is exciting after 3 months of relying on a translator. Most of the people here speak a minimum of 3 languages, and sometimes up to 9. There are more than 70 nationally recognized languages in India, and hardly anyone actually uses Hindi, the national language. It makes me wonder how people decide which language they are going to speak in for each conversation… But fortunately, in most cases English will stick and help us survive most situations although sometimes you have to fight through some very thick accents.
After an extra plane ride from Delhi and overnight bus ride from Hyderabad to Bangalore, we finally made it to our ministry site. This month, my team and I will be working with Abhayam, a place of comfort. It is a drug rehabilitation center in the outskirts of Bangalore. Here men and women who suffer from addictions to drugs, alcohol, and sex can come and be comforted through in a Christ centered environment. They will be completely be removed from their old surroundings and habits and put all of their time to healing through doing crafts for local churches and organizations as well as learning valuable music and cooking skills. The members have to willingly seek out the help of Abhayam and commit to 6 months of rehab as well as attending the local church services and being a part of that tight knit community. Nick and I are actually living in the mens home and doing day to day life with these men, offering real, Christ centered relationships to these men and showing them love and offering counseling if they seek out advice from us or wish to share deeper issues with us. We are all really excited about this opportunity to live with our ministry and be a part of this life changing process for these men. Its our first time doing ministry with adults and building strong relationships as opposed to some of the past ministries working with kids, speaking in churches, and doing manual labor. We look forward to living with these men and playing card games, jamming on the guitar, playing ping pong, cooking, and working out with these guys.
In addition to the rehab ministry, we will also be used wherever the church may need us. The first day we were here, Albert, our ministry contact heard I was a photographer, and immediately had an extra job for me. Their church was starting a VBS today and as a part of the program, they needed a photographer to get specific photos of the kids for a spotlight slideshow at the end. So today, our first day of ministry, I was carted off to the church and plugged in right away to get these photos. It was so cool to be able to use one of my passions immediately in my month in India. I will continue to be used in this position for the rest of the mornings this week.
One other sweet part of our ministry this month is our local transportation. Since Nick and I are living in a different spot from the girls, and we need to meet up most nights for team time, our ministry contact gave us a moto to scoot around town in. So at least once a day Nick and I are zooming around town, on the left side of the road, in some of the craziest traffic patterns I have ever experienced, on a moto! It is a blast cruising through town on a hot summer night!
Its been a great couple days in India thus far and I really look forward to the few weeks to come!
